Elora's point of view:

The intrusive blaring of the telephone in the living room sounded as I sat on my own. Everyone else was outside enjoying the sun. Me, with all my pale complexion and with the ability to burn so fast that Salem wouldn't even be able to keep up with it, I had to stay inside after a certain amount of time in the sun. I stood from the sofa to grab the phone, placing it to my ear as I saw all of my family happily socializing.

"Hello, Horowitz residence," I said to the phone. My smile was uncontrollable as the people on the other like paused for a few seconds.

"You better hide, bitch," a deep-voiced man spoke through the other line. My eyes went wide and my heart began to beat hard in my chest as I heard a man say this to me. It only took four words for me to become scared of whoever was on the other line.

"Who is this?" I asked, the tone a mix of anger and worry about who this person was. I hoped it was just a few kids who managed to find my number and decided to mess around with me. I didn't think these were kids though, I could swear this was an adult male that was calling me.

"You made the mistake. Now we're coming for you," he growled, and then he hung the phone up. My wrist was shaking and I dropped the phone to the floor, the cord pulling down the rest of it with it. The crashing sound on the floor made my father walk into the room, carefully striding on his artificial leg.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. The world had floated into a fearful and flattened distance that scared me into oblivious. I could barely even begin to try and reply. "Elora, you have to tell me what happened or I'll never be able to help you."

"Someone phoned me...they said they were going to find me...that I made the mistake," I replied. My father thought for a moment and shook his head as he tried to think it over. Then it came to me. I remembered who exactly would want to chase me. "I killed three men. I killed them, it's the KKK."

"Oh my God..." He replied. What was I going to do? I had to gather my thoughts here. How was I going to keep myself protected?

"What do I do?" I asked. He thought for a few more seconds, and then he said the words I would never want him to hear.

"Stay here," he replied. My eyes went wide.

"Stay? No, I can't!" I replied.

"Elora, you have to listen to me. You're better off staying with people that can help you if you need it. Why would you want to be alone? Stay here, so I can watch over you," he replied, and left like nothing happened.

•••

My father didn't speak about it again to anyone, not even me. He left it like there was nothing to talk about. I was lying in bed, Flynn next to me asleep and relaxed. I couldn't relax at all. The looming of my potential kidnapping was overwhelming. Not to mention I felt as though we were dealing with this rather inadequately.

I wanted to do something. There was a fear so greatly present within me that I had been eluded from sleep. I wanted to get out, to find something that was better and more protected. I knew this house wouldn't keep me when stress did its best to uproot it. Which only meant that I had to get out as fast as I could and do my best to make sure I got out of this as safe as possible. The only way to do this was slip through the night like I wasn't even here to begin with. However, even though I knew it would be prudent to do this, I didn't move away from my spot on the bed. Flynn was keeping me from going anywhere that hastily.

I turned around in bed and watched as he slept soundlessly through the night. How I envied his ability to sleep like that. I wished I could be that young and vulnerable girl that listened to the wishes of her father because she thought he was simply the toughest man in the world. But I didn't think this. I only had those thoughts when I was a young child, not believing that I could be touched by the badness of the world as long as my father was with me. Now I knew better. I knew my father was strong, but he was still just a man, and a man could only do so much for another person before they had to go about it themselves. I understood this perfectly, and knew I would have to do this by myself.

A lone tear fell from my eye as I looked at Flynn continuously. I wished that I could take him with me, but I knew it would only serve to make things a lot more difficult for me. I would need to do this by myself, and I knew that. The trouble was accepting it and being able to leave Flynn in the process of that. All I wanted was for him to be safe, and if that meant I had to leave the picture, then I would do so. If he came with me, it would put him in as much danger as I was in right now. It was time for me to leave before things became worse and uncontrollable.

"I love you," I whispered to him. Flynn didn't answer me, he was asleep. After a few seconds of a pause, I took a tiny breathe and slipped as carefully as I could out of the bed. I grabbed a bag that I could carry on my shoulder to put some clothes in. I didn't know how long I would be gone, but I didn't have a lot of room. So I put in five pairs of shirts, two pairs of pants, a skirt, a pair of shorts and two sundresses. I took a few things to wear to sleep and all the underwear I could fit. I dressed in a simple shirt and cut-off denim jeans. I put my hair up in a bun, wrapped myself in a warm sweater, placed on a pair of white sneakers, and hung the bag on my shoulder. I stopped at the door and watched Flynn again.

"I won't forget you," I whispered. Then I opened the door and shut it behind me. My breathing hitched as I felt the first step take me away from that room. To me, it was like leaving everything I ever loved. I tried my best not to cry, I held in the tears as much as I could. All I could do was hold my whole body until it was numb, and I felt this way the whole time I walked through my house and to the front door. The clock read that it was half past one in the morning when I reached the front door.

I felt my fingers touch the metal of the door handle as I pushed it open. The outside air of the warm summer surged through my hair and swam across my skin as I stepped out of the door and onto the porch. When I shut that front door for the final time of the night, I knew that there was no going back now. I was actually doing this. I was running away from all I knew. All I ever had to love me. Why was I doing this? Why couldn't I just be selfish and ask for everyone else to fix things for me? It would've been so easy to think I was going to be fine with all these people at my side, but that wasn't the way I thought. That wasn't part of who I was, and it was because of the people that protected that I was the way I was.

I took one of the cars in the garage. We had two in total, and I knew I would be getting nowhere if I didn't have that. I had money saved from my life through the years. I had about six hundred and fifty dollars with me. That would be enough to get me somewhere, I just wish I knew where. All the goals I had on my mind were to get out as fast as possible and find a hiding place until this, hopefully, blew over. I wasn't the one to know whether or not this would play out successfully or not, but I had to hope for the best otherwise what was the point?

The engine revved free and I drove out of the garage. I passed through the front gate of the yard and drove out as quickly as I could. I watched from the mirror as my house disappeared from sight, leaving me for what seemed like forever. All my memories sat in that house and I was abandoning them. Why did I do that?! Why am I doing this?! I was constantly questioning my actions in this situation, and yet I still ceased to go back there. I knew that I couldn't endanger my family. My pain was less important than the whole of them going through agony while I stood and watched. That would be the most immense amount of pain for us all. It was better if it was just me.

I made my way onto the highway and kept going. I didn't know where I was off to. All I knew was that I had to get out of Washington, D.C. There had to be a small little town next to it that I could take shelter in somewhere. If I just went east along the highway all the way to the end, I would probably come across a town of village. We had quite a few of them, so there was the chance I would be able to sleep for the night.

After forty five minutes of driving, I managed to make my way into a tiny village by the name of Cardston. It was small and to the west of the highway as I drove down it. There was a gas station that became the first thing that I saw. I pulled into the town and drove into the station to see if anyone could help me to find a motel. I walked in and the small bell sounded through the station. There was no one there but a man at the counter. He was middle aged, with brown hair and a moustache. He looked positively exhausted.

"Is there a motel in this town that I can check into?" I asked. He nodded.

"You bet. It's just up the road. You can use the phone to call and check in if you want. They take walk-ins though," he replied. I nodded and thanked him as I dialled the number on the phone. They answered and I asked for a room, to which they had one single for me. I thanked them for it and hung up. I thanked the attendant at the counter of the station and then I left for the motel.

I entered the hotel and a woman about the same age as the man in the station was waiting for me at the desk. She had a sweet face and smiled at me as I walked in. When I came to the counter she greeted me with a kind hello.

"Is that room ready?" I asked. She had this expression that seemed like she was almost sympathetic. She didn't know why I was there but based on the way I looked and the fact that I had checked into a small motel at the early hours of the morning.

"Yes it is, my dear. My name is Jean. I'll help you with anything you need. Here is your room key, sleep well," she said to me. I thanked her kindly and took the key. I climbed slowly and tiredly up the stairs with my bag lazily hanging over my shoulder as I came to the second floor. I twisted the key into the lock and entered.

Seeing the bed pooled a little relief off my shoulders. I needed some sleep now that I was away from home and in this hotel room, in a town that I didn't know at all. So I dropped my bag down onto the floor, undressed out of my clothes and plopped down onto the bed. However, even though I was in a surprisingly comfortable bed, I didn't sleep without crying so hard I thought my body would freeze completely.

•••

Flynn's point of view:

Morning fled into the window as my eyes opened slowly. I turned around in the hopes of finding Elora at my side, but when I turned around I saw she wasn't in bed. The clock on the night table read that it was nine in the morning. She may have been up by now but I didn't hear the glorious tune of the music sounding from the kitchen as she made breakfast. Nor did I hear the sounds she sometimes made when she shuffled around in the bathroom. I could only deduce she was downstairs with someone.

Slowly, I lifted myself out of bed and stepped down the stairs. I didn't hear any sounds of shuffling around or the song of Elora in the kitchen. When I went to see if she was in there, I went to find the kitchen was completely empty. I went into the living room and she wasn't there either. I looked in the study, nor was she there. Jack was though, reading a book.

"Have you seen Elora? She's usually in the kitchen making breakfast by now, but she isn't there," I asked. Jack shook his head and shrugged. He put the book on the desk and carefully got up from his seat. He followed me out of the room as we went back into the kitchen. Elora still wasn't there and I was beginning to get worried. Where had she gone? She couldn't be far.

"Hilda, baby?! You seen Elora?" Jack asked as Hilda came down the stairs in her robe and nightgown. She was so graceful as she went down the stairs in her angelic walk.

"No, I haven't. Did you check any of the bathrooms or outside? She may be there," Hilda replied with her arms crossed around her chest. I shook my head when Jack looked at me to see if I had seen her there. It had now been established that she wasn't here. What had happened that she had to leave? I didn't even hear her leave the room.

"She's not here. Where did she go?" I asked. The worry was continuously welling up within me and I was discussing many different scenarios in my mind. What if someone had come in and taken her while everyone was asleep?! What if she ran away to try and get a new life because she didn't like the one she was in?! Oh God, whatever it is, it was making me sick to my stomach.

"I'm not sure. I'm scared. Jack?" Hilda asked. He was remaining oddly quiet throughout this. This made it seem to me that he knew something Hilda and I didn't.

"She ran away from the KKK," he said. Hilda and my eyes went up. I didn't know what she was thinking but as soon as he said it it came to me. She had killed three members of the Klan, and they probably weren't very happy about that. And I mean, it wasn't like she was hard to find. Her family was quite famous locally. They must have had someone notice her from where she was and they just didn't stop her from killing people. So she knew she was under threat, but why didn't she tell me? I could have helped her!

"Why?! Did they try and hurt her?!" I heard Hilda say frantically as Jack said this to her. He sighed and shook his head. Whatever it was he knew, he was hiding it. I only hoped it was out of the goodness of something. He never did anything without thinking about others and their safety, so there was a reason.

"No, she was fine. I guess she found a threat and she ran from it," he replied. I sort of saw right through it. There was a glint in his eye that Hilda seemed to have missed. Jack was lying about something or other. He knew what had happened, why she had to leave, and he wasn't telling Hilda. Why wasn't he telling his wife? They told each other all the information that crossed them, so why did he decide to neglect this bit of extremely crucial information?

"We have to find her! Where could she have gone?!" Hilda asked. This was when Emmaleigh made her way down the stairs. She seemed fine until she saw the darkened faces of me and her parents. She slowed down as she went over to us.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Elora is missing. We don't know where she went," I replied. There was this fire welling up inside me that was sparking. I was angry, not at Elora but at this terrorist group that decided to pull the only person I ever loved straight out of my grasp.

"Would she be at Lorelei's?" She asked. We never tried asking if she went there. So Emmaleigh offered to call her. When she said Elora was missing, she asked if she had gone there. Emmaleigh then nodded as Lorelei answered from the other line. She hung up the phone and looked to us.

"She's not there."

Note: sorry for another wait. I still have some things to do before daily updates make their way back. I hope this'll be adequate enough for you for now. I hope that I'll get another one up as soon as I can. Anyway, be sure to vote and comment! Also follow me for any updates! Happy reading!